Thursday, October 15, 2009

RSGB subs up

The November issue of the RSGB magazine RadCom plopped on the doormat this morning. One of the first items of news is that subscriptions will be increasing, and there will no longer be concessionary rates for senior citizens, although those currently enjoying concessionary rates will be able to keep them.

I suppose given the age demographic of this hobby it's quite likely that half the RSGB membership is currently on concessionary rates. But given the problems with pensions in this country - with many pension schemes going bust while the UK state pension is already the lowest in Europe - I think many of the next generation of pensioners are going to be very hard up indeed, so this decision is ill-timed to say the least.

I do consider RSGB membership to still be very good value for money and RadCom to be the best of all the monthly amateur radio magazines. I just hope I am never in the situation where membership is a luxury I can no longer afford.

More welcome is the news that the RSGB is going to make a legal challenge to the inactivity of the radio spectrum regulator OFCOM over the issue of interfering PLT adapters. This has a much better chance of getting results than some amateur pressure group or a petition on a website used by every nut job in the country. But it is going to cost money, and I think the RSGB has missed an opportunity to ask people to contribute to this cause. I certainly would be willing to donate a few quid to the cost of this specific legal battle and I expect others would too.